


MaLink Month 2016

by MikeyHunter



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:52:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7055113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeyHunter/pseuds/MikeyHunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My fills for the first annual MaLink Month, as organized for the Rancher of Time blog!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Impressions

Her papa had always told her, she didn't need to voice her every thought, especially not those thoughts about the people right in front of her. She understood that it was rude, and she was trying, really trying, to kick the habit. But she was only human, and so it was that she slipped up and these words caught the attention of the tow headed boy whose eyes roamed the market as he walked by:

"Hey, your clothes! They're... Different..." Malon realized the words were coming out of her mouth when the boy turned toward her, obviously listening to her. When he didn't break eye contact, she realized with some embarassment that he expected her to actually go somewhere with that statement. Wanting nothing more than to relieve the akwardness, she thought to ask him a question, "you're not from around here, are you?"

"No," Link replied, happy to have met someone normal for the first time since leaving the forest, as opposed to that bird or the stalchildren or all these giants who talk down to him, "I come from Kokiri Forest."

"Ooh..." she gasped, "You're a fairy boy from the forest!" As soon as those words were in the air, she regretted them. Something else her father had scolded her for was referring to zora as "fish ladies" and gorons as "rock boys." Reducing another race to a single feature, according to papa, was as rude as it got, and Malon worried that she had accidentally done it again.

The fairy boy in question didn't seem to mind though, in fact, he seemed to be smiling because of it!

Link had not been in the best of moods prior to this conversation. While finally getting his own fairy companion was great, the Great Deku Tree dying was awful, getting blamed for it was worse, having to leave the forest was terrifying, and Saria's goodbye still weighed on his chest like Mido was sitting on it. But after spending his whole life getting called "Mr. No Fairy," to have the first person he talked to outside the forest identify him by the fact that he had a fairy? He would have been lying if he said that didn't lift his spirits. If Mido could see him now...

Thinking that maybe she hadn't offended him after all, she continued the conversation, "My name is Malon! My papa owns Lon Lon Ranch!"

It was at this point that she remembered, and voiced this thought: "Papa went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet..."

"I'm going to the castle," he offered, "I could probably find him!"

"Thank you. He probably fell asleep after getting paid, again. Can you believe that?" She punctated her statement with a giggle.

"I just have one question..."

"Shoot."

"Which building is the castle?"

"You don't know?"

"No."

"Well..." she grinned, leaning in close. "I could tell you..." Link had no idea why he suddenly felt so warm. "But first, I want you to do something..." she put her hands on his  
shoulders, and he felt nervous in a way he never had before, and couldn't take his eyes off her lips...

Which is why she so easily pushed him flat on his butt. "Catch me!" she commanded, already disappearing around the fountain. 

"What is with that girl?" he wondered, following the curtain of red hair flowing behnd her.


	2. Epona's Song

Malon looked up from petting her favorite little mare as she was greeted by a familiar sounding voice.

"Oh! Hey, Fairy Boy!" she responded "Thanks again for finding my papa." He just barely finished a "no problem" before she continued, "How did you like the castle?"

"It was... Big. Bigger than the Great Deku Tree!"

"Did you see the princess?"

"Yeah, she gave me this note," he volunteered, showing her the letter, "and taught me a song that's supposed to prove I know her." 

"Was she cute?" She snickered with a grin when she saw his cheeks redden at the last question.

"Papa came home in a hurry after you found him" she pressed on, giving him an out.

"I figured, since he ran off in a big hurry," Link commented before having a giggle of his own, one that Malon would then share in before agreeing with a "Yeah."

"Oh, I should introduce you to my friend, Fairy Boy. She's this horse," she said, stepping aside to indicate the chestnut colored mare who was just barely taller than her. "her name's Epona. Isn't she cute?"

Link expressed his agreement with a smile, and extended a hand to pet her. Unfortunately, her response was to let out a loud whinny and back up, trembling.

"Sorry, Fairy Boy, I guess she's afraid of you." Malon then asked him, "Could you wait there?" She then approached her filly, cooing "It's okay, girl," and then started to sing

Epona, Epona, you're always by my side  
When you are here with me, I can't be lonely

Link observed that this did an excellent job of calming the horse down, and he stared in amazement at the fact that she was enjoying gentle rubs on her head from Malon before the first line was over.

It was Malon's turn to go red in the cheeks as she remembered that Link was there, and he was looking right at her as she sang. "My mother wrote that song..." she explained "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's nice, and you're a great singer."

She perked up at the compliment, "Do you want to sing it together?"

"Well, I can't sing like you can..." he insisted, rubbing the back of his head, "But I do have this!" he offered, pulling out his parting gift from Saria.

"Ooh, cute ocarina! So you want to play along with me? Okay!"

They quickly busied themselves, Malon vocalising the melody while Link did surprisingly well with keeping up, learning the song at a pace of about three notes at a time. Epona watched as they did this, and before long she moved in to nuzzle into her owner's new friend. Not realizing her strength, he was pushed along as she did so.

"Oh, Epona," Malon said, with a grin creeping up her face. "Looks like she's grown fond of you, Fairy Boy," and at that they shared a hearty laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: there are official lyrics to Epona's Song (In Japanese, at least.) Give it a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eZoxuJGlJc


	3. Playtime at the Ranch

Steel clashed against steel, again and agin, rapidly, furiously the two swords were struck against each other, until the warriors who wielded them hopped back, panting, but maintaining eye contact.

"You're pretty good," said the radiant redheaded woman, who was still gorgeous even with her hair disheveled and sweat visible on her brow.

"Thanks, you're not bad yourself," replied the smolderingly handsome man with the magnificent golden mane.

"I still can't let you kill King Ingo though," she said, lunging at her opponent once more.

"I have to avenge my father!" he said, blocking her strike, "he has to die!" he commanded, taking a swing of his own.

"Maybe so," she responded, jumping back to avoid his blade, "but if I don't protect him, he'll kill my father too!"

"Then I guess there's only one way to settle this..." he said, leaning forward, holding his sword at an angle, taking one hand off the hilt to press against the flat of the blade as it started to glow with blue energy.

"I guess so..." she agreed, coiling herself and pointing her sword at the cieling, gripped in both hands as tight as ever, the wind blowing through her hair as it, too, started to glow.

They stood facing each other for some time, screaming as the pressure of their charging special attacks increased, the color of their energies shifting from blue to orange and finally red, at which point they unleashed them, Malon leaping up to smite Link as he spun furiously around. When they collided, a large cloud of dust was kicked up...

"Confound it you kids!" screamed Ingo "I spent all morning on that hay pile you just scattered!"

"Sorry, Uncle Ingo," Malon apologized, standing her branch up against the wall, "we'll help you clean it up, won't we Link?"

"Yeah, sorry, Mr. Ingo..." Link agreed, laying his branch next to hers and kneeling down with her.


	4. Sneaking Out at Night

Time flies, as they say, when one is having fun, and before Link knew it, the sun hung low in the sky, dying the cerulean expanse a brilliant orange.

"It's been fun, Malon," Link said, strapping on his sword and shield, "but I really should get going..."

"Now you just hang on a minute there, son," interrupted Talon.

"It's Link..." he clarified.

"Alright then, Link, I know you'd really like to get home,"

"Actually, I have a job to go do in Kakariko."

"All the same, before I let you go, I've gotta ask: do you have a horse?"

"No..."

"Then there's no way you'll beat the sun to anywhere you wanna go. So I've gotta insist that you stay here for the night."

"But I really have to go do this!" Link insisted.

"Listen," said Talon, kneeling down to put his hands on the boy's shoulders, "you're Malon's friend, right?"

"Right." he agreed.

"And you don't want her to be sad, do you?"

"Of course not!"

"Well I don't know about you, but I think she'd be pretty sad if her friend died, wouldn't you, Mal?"

"Yeah, I don't want Fairy Boy to die..." she confirmed.

Link tried to assure them: "But I won't..."

"I know you're confident," Talon butted in, "but could you please just stay here 'til sunrise? So Malon and I can sleep easy and not spend the whole not worrying that stalchild got you?"

"Please?" Malon added, looking directly at him with pleading eyes.

Resistance was, at that point, futile, and so it was that Link found himself listening to Talon snore as an extra on the bed that, most nights, only had to accomodate the ranch owner and his brother, Ingo.

"Psst, Fairy Boy, are you awake?" whispered a little voice in the darkness.

"Yeah, what's up?" he answered, in an equally hushed tone.

"I wanna show you something. Can you come with me?"

"Sure." he said, carefully rolling out of bed and catching himself as he fell to the floor. Malon led him downstairs, out the front door, around the corral, and into the shed at the very back of the property. Inside the shed were the crates full of milk bottles for the whole ranch.

"Help me pull these crates out of the way." she requested, and so they did. They started from the front, working their way until the crate in the corner was pushed away to reveal a hole in the wall. 

"You first," she said, and he crawled through it. It was a bit cramped, but at the end he found himself in a small room lined with hay.

"This is my secret room," she told him, having crawled through after him, "I come here when I need to be alone. Papa and Uncle Ingo don't know about it."

"It's nice..." Link said, feeling a sense of calmness that made him understand why she liked it.

"I thought you might like it. I come here to cry whenever I think about my mom, and I feel like you needed a place like that."

"What makes you say that?" he asked nervously

"The story you told me was really sad, but you did't seem to be upset about it. Like that Saria girl? You said she was your best friend, don't you miss her?"

"I don't miss..." Link muttered, trying to force the 'her' out of his throat where it got caught. He tried again: "I don't-" his voice cracked, his cheeks felt hot and his eyes were starting to water. "I..." he started sobbing, "I miss her..."

Malon wrapped her arms around him, "It's alright. Just let it out..." And he did, sobbing himself to sleep in her arms.


	5. Lon Lon Milk

The hike from Lon Lon Ranch to Kakariko Village felt much longer than Link expected it to. From Kokiri Forest to Castle Town, he was too busy being awed by the green expanse around him to notice the distance, and the ranch wasn't that far from Castle Town. But his third hike across Hyrule Field, now burdened both helping the princess save the world and the knowledge that, if anything happened to him, it would make Malon sad, exhaustion was finally able to catch up with him, and he collapsed against the fence of the gate that kept stalchildren out of the village.

"You okay, kid?" asked the man standing guard. (Well, his official job was to stand guard, but day-to-day he mostly just greeted people on their way in and bade them safe travels on the way out.)

"Yeah," he panted, "I'm fine, just really... Thirsty!" As the last word shot out of his mouth, he remembered what he had in his pocket, and pulled out a bottle of Lon Lon Milk. Cradling it in his hands, he thought back to how he got it...

\---

"You've never had Lon Lon Milk before?" asked Malon, visibly shocked and looking a little upset

"Yeah, why? Is it good?" Link asked, intrigued by how strongly his friend seemed to feel about this mysterious beverage...

"Here, see for yourself," she offered, uncorking a fresh bottle and handing it to him.

He gave the white liquid a quizzical sniff. It smelled alright... He put his lips to the bottle, tilted it up... And was blessed by the rich, creamy goodness that poured down his throat. He tilted the bottle up more, greedily sucking it down until the bottle was empty.

"Wow," he said, "that stuff's amazing! You say you make it here?"

"Yup! Wanna see how?"

"Sure," he said, following her into the barn.

"Hey there, Smelly Melly," Malon said, greeting one of the cows and rubbing her snout.

"Smelly Melly?" repeated Link incredulously

"Well, we named her Melissa, but she farts more than any other cow we've ever had, so we started calling her Smelly Melly" she explained. "Now watch this," she commanded, sitting on the nearby stool and holding the bottle under Smelly Melly's udder. Wrapping the fingers of her other hand around one of the teats, she started pulling and squeezing, and to Link's amazement, milk started squirting out!"

"Wow!" Link commented, stars in his eyes.

"You wanna try it?" Malon offered, standing up off the stool.

"Alright..." Link said, sitting down and taking the bottle from his friend. When he tried to do what she did, however, the cow started loudly mooing in pain, Malon pulled his hand back and started rubbing her side.

"Sorry, girl," she said to the cow, "I should have told him first... Fairy Boy," she said, this time to him, "you have to be gentle. Like this," she said, repeating what she did to Melly's teat to one of his fingers

The demonstration really helped, and Melly stayed calm until he'd refilled his bottle, at which point Malon started clapping for him.  
"Good job!" she praised him.

\---

As he guzzled down the last few drops of the drink he milked himself, he felt both refreshed and proud. "Gotta keep going," he thought to himself, as he pocketed the bottle and walked into the village.


	6. Talon's Proposal

"Golly!" said Talon. "I'll be darned!" he added. "It's plum incredible!" he calrified. "That's the last one! You've found'em all!" he said, referring to the three "Super Cuccos" (Who were actually just regular cuccos with strings wrapped around their feet that were just thin enough and just the right color that most people could only see them if they knew what to look for) that Link had paid ten rupees to be tasked with picking out from a gaggle of regular cuccos in under thirty seconds.

"That was awesome, Fairy Boy!" said Malon, applauding her forest-dwelling friend "You're probably the first person to ever win that game!"

"Yes indeedy, he is," Talon assured his daughter, which had Link rubbing the back of his neck, flush with pride. "C'mon over here, son."

"You've got the talent to be one of the world's best cowboys!" Talon told Link.

"Thanks, heheh..." said Link who couldn't help but blush from the praise.

"How'd you like to marry Malon? Huh?"

"Papa!" barked Malon

"Sure."

"LINK!" she shouted, her face turning almost as red as her hair.

Letting loose a hearty laugh from the very bottom of his belly, Talon explained, "I was just kiddin', just kiddin'... I mean, you two are a little young for that, ain't ya?"

"I'm not sure, what does marry mean?" asked Link

"Well..." Talon started, twiddling his thumbs and staring into the corners of his eyes as he searched for the right words, "to marry someone, you have to go before a Sage, and you and the person you want to marry make a promise to the Goddesses, through that Sage, that the two of you will stay together forever..."

"I can do that," 

"Link..." Malon moaned, staring into the middle distance

"... That neither of you will romantically engage with other people..."

"Sounds fine to me."

"Liiiiiiink...." Malon added, not sure she was processing what she was hearing properly.

"... And, eventually, maybe, someday, the two of you might... Consider... Making kids together..." Talon said, visibly sweating at this point.

"Sounds like fun!" Link chirped.

Malon, meanwhile, had now completely blacked out in shock.

"What's a kids? And how do we make it?"

"Y-y-you are not even old enough to hear the answer to that one!" Talon sputtered, reaching into the ice box behind him and producing another bottle of Lon Lon Milk. "Here, just take your prize for the Super Cucco game, alright?"

"Alright..." Link said. "But if we're not old enough to marry now, how long will it be before we are old enough?"

"Oh, I'd say..." Talon said, taking a second to consider... "Six or seven years, thereabouts..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)


	7. Seven Years Absence

"MALON!" barked the Great Ingo, owner of Ingo Ranch, from the second floor window, at his only employee, "HAVE THE CUCCOS BEEN FED YET!?"

"NOT YET, UNCLE INGO!" she shouted back, promptly, bag full of feed already in hand.

"WELL THEN GET TO IT!" he ordered. "Honestly, I don't even know why I keep you around..." he mumbled. Malon heard it, and while it wasn't loud enough for her to actually understand it, he said it to her face often enough that she could fill in the blank herself.

"Because if I weren't here, you'd probably have to do some actual work for a change..." she muttered. Since cheating her dad out of the ranch a few years ago, the only 'work' he  
her uncle ever did was 'handling the accounts,' which basically amounted to counting up the profits and spending it all on his own vanity, calling it "an investment in the ranch's image." Fancy clothes for himself, new wallpaper for the bedroom that became his after kicking Talon out, comissioning an artist to create a logo (his own head in profile, naturally), replacing the gates with ones bearing that logo, and doubling what used to be his whiskey budget and had become a wine budget.

Which is not to say that the ranch's profits had gone up. Quite the opposite, with Ingo retiring from any task more laborious than lifting a full wine bottle and Talon going from doing a decent share of labor between his all-too-frequent naps in the sun to not being there to contribute at all, Malon had to be overworked just for the ranch to maintain the same level of productivity. 

So it was that Ingo's extravagant spending was paid for by downgrading to the cheapest possible supplies for the actual ranch work. Malon's adult wardrobe, for example, consisted of a rotation of identical violet skirts made from the table cloth they trotted out for important dinner guests and shirts white shirts that were similarly lacking in variety made by repurposing the dresses she wore as a child. For another example, she was almost certain that the bag she was currently carrying was only actually three quarters of chicken feed, with the fourth quarter consisting of sawdust.

Of course, if she were to point any of this out to her uncle, all it would lead to is him screaming at her about 'all he's done for her,' how 'priveleged' she is to not be homeless like her 'worthless bum of a father,' and how 'generous' it is of him to let her keep her job.

She knew well enough to abandon that cause by the age of twelve, and turned instead of entertaining fantasies of running away... But she knew she couldn't. Uncle Ingo never knew how to treat the animals right. Several times a day, he'd spook a horse or rile up the cuccos, and she'd have to step in and calm them down. They needed her, and she didn't have the heart to abandon them...

She received a reminder of this need while scattering feed for the cuccos, when one by a crate started thrashing about in a panic. She knelt down investegate.  
"What's wrong?" she asked it, in the kindest, most nurturing tone she had in her. It calmed down a bit, and started clucking directly at her, frantically flapping it's wings, although it didn't move forward at all. It seemed to be stuck. "Alright, alright, calm down, I'll fix it," she instructed, leaning in closer to gaze all around it.

She found the cluprit: a yellow string tied around it's foot was caught on a loose nail.

"Sorry, your highness," she explained to the Super Cucco, treating it like royalty as she did the other two, "your royal anklet is the source of your problem, it'll have to be removed..." 

She broke the string, and the cucco scampered off to eat her fill.

Malon stood up straight, and stared down at the string in her hands. It was the string her father had used to denote the three "Super Cuccos" for the little side game he played with customers who came to the ranch for their milk rather than having it delivered. It would have been a scam, if not for the fact that he only charged ten rupees, and never let anyone play more than once per visit. Nobody had ever won it. Nobody except...

"Fairy Boy..." she breathed, gazing to the gate out of the ranch.

It had been years since his last visit. When she started having to make the deliveries herself, she would ask around about him, but as far as anyone could tell, he simply disappeared the same day Princess Zelda had.

The princess...

He knew her. He had been on a quest for her, that involved gathering three very beautiful gems... He talked about feeling a strange sense of familiarity around her. She was reasonably sure he liked her. And from the way he described their meeting, she probably liked him back... 

Had they run off together?

When Link won the Super Cucco game, Talon offered him Malon's hand in marriage, which he accepted. She was shocked, at the time, but in all honesty, the idea appealed to her, on some level...

But now he was almost certainly married to the princess...

She wished he would at least visit her, one last time... But it was enough to know he was happy...

Tomorrow would mark seven years since she'd last seen him...

About a week later would mark seven years since she'd had anything to smile about...

Epona nuzzled into her cheek, and when she heard the coarse voice that gasped out "Epona..." Malon realized she had been crying. She swallowed her sadness, and started petting the horse's snout.

"At least I know you'll never leave me..." she offered.


	8. All Grown Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11:56 PM at time of posting. Barely made it.

"MALON!" screamed the voice that now filled the ranch girl with dread through the barn door. The door then flew open, with no regard for her response (that is to say, her lack of a response, because her uncle didn't bother waiting for one, as usual.) "We have an honored guest who has requested a place to spend the night" he explained in that insufferable 'cultured, well spoken' voice he'd started putting on for guests after seizing control of the ranch. "I figure he can have your room, and you can sleep in the barn, is that alright?" It wasn't really a question. This wasn't their first guest, and she knew from experience that her options were 'comply and sleep on a pile of hay' or 'get yelled at and sleep on a pile of hay.'

"Of course, uncle" she answered, choosing the path of least resistance.

"Excellent!" he said, before closing the door "My niece has agreed to give up her room. Please, enjoy your stay." he said, presumably to the guest. "I've got a lot of work to do," he lied, and she knew, it. He just wanted to give the appearance of being busy, since, if Ingo's tone was anything to go by, this guest had crossed his palm with a silver rupee for the service, and doubtlessly had more where that came from. "But if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask her." But of course, he would have to be served to make him more likely to continue to spend, and like any other work that needed doing on 'Ingo' Ranch, the task fell to Malon, naturally.

Malon set to work making her 'bed' for the night when she heard the door open behind her. Clearly, her guest was not wasting any time. She just hoped this one would be less handsy than the last...

Stiffening up, she turned to face him... And dropped her pitchfork in disbelief at what she saw. The piercing blue eyes... The golden blonde hair... The green tunic with matching floppy cap... It couldn't be...

"Fairy Boy?" she whispered, afraid she was seeing things.

"Hey, Malon" was his answer.

She lunged, face first, sobbing, into his chest and threw her arms over his shoulders. "By Din, am I happy to see you, Fairy Boy!" she confessed "Ganondorf killed the king, then Zelda disappeared, then Uncle Ingo kicked dad out and he's been working me like a dog, and I haven't seen you for so long..." she spilled

"It's alright, Malon," he soothed, rubbing her back, "it's alright..."

"No, it's not alright!" she snapped, punctuating each word with alternating slaps of her fists against his shoulders "I. Haven't. Seen. You. In. Years. What. Were. You. Doing." she demanded.

"Sleeping." he answered immediately, continuing to hold her, unfazed by her assault.

"Sleeping?" she repeated, unsure if she had heard him properly.

He nodded without hesitation.

"You expect me to believe you've been asleep for seven years?"

"I can explain! ... I think..." he offered, sitting the both of them down on the hay pile she intended to sleep on. "Y'see, after showing you the last Spiritual Stone, I went to take them to Zelda, but when I got to the drawbridge, she was fleeing wtih Impa on horseback, with Ganondorf following after her. Then I saw something shining in the moat, so I fished it out, and it was this," he explained, pulling out what was unmistakably the famous royal heirloom, the one and only Ocarina of Time.

"Okay... That part checks out..." Malon said, admiring how it shined, even in the dim light of the barn.

"So then, I went to the Temple of Time, put the stones in the altar and played the Song of Time on the ocarina. That opened a wall, and behind that wall, was this," he continued, unstrapping the sword from his back to show to her, "The Master Sword."

At this, Malon was awed. The Blade of Evil's Bane was right in front of her, the fabled brand the first king of Hyrule used to vanquish the Demon Lord... 

"I shouldn't have pulled it out..." he confided.

"Why not?" she asked. 

"Two reasons" he answered, "First, Ganondorf had followed me, so when pulling it out opened the way to the Sacred Realm, I did exactly what I was trying to prevent. Second, I was too young for the sword, so it put me to sleep for seven years. Everything you've been through all these years is my fault..." he intimated.

"Link, no, it's not your fault," she assured him

"It is" he insisted. "But either way, it doesn't make a difference now. I just have to fix it." He stood up and dusted himself off. "C'mon, it's late, let's get to bed," he said, extending his hand.

"You want me to go to bed with you?" she asked, her cheeks heating up as she took it and was helped to her feet.

"Because of me, you've spent seven years as a slave, the last thing I want to do is prevent you from sleeping in your own bed." he stated.

Seeing the sincerety in his eyes, Malon realized who she was talking to. In spite of his adult body, and in spite of shouldering the guilt for Ganon's reign, he was still the innocent child she knew seven years ago. He couldn't possibly have anything but the purest of intentions, to him, he was simply returning the favor for the night she spent with him in her secret spot.

"Of course, how silly of me" she commented. "Come on," she said, leading him by the hand.


End file.
